Soccer Fellowship Report (21st April)

Due to the prolong downpour in the east region which had stopped at noon, we were told that Changkat Changi's pitch was waterlogged and unplayable. As Pasir Ris Primary School was one of the few free-to-play synthetic fields in the region, we shifted our Soccer Fellowship over there without any delays. At 3pm, the gate to the field was still locked and we waited for about 15 mins before Kevin decided to dial his "secret contact" to check the availability of the field. To our relief, he was informed that the field warden was already on his way.

 Jacob sharing devotion while waiting for the warden to appear

 The gate opens and we all trudge in

 Getting ready for Soccer Fellowship (and that includes reading the newspaper!)

Jacob started the sharing with the gate still locked so as to save up some playing time. He shared on the topic of a lasting life and reminded all to go for the more important things in life. He referred to Philippians 1:10, which says "I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives."

We started the game with 8-a-side with Reds against Whites using half of the pitch. For the first 10 mins, the Whites were the more offensive side and caused much troubles to the Reds' defense. Soon after, 4 more players joined the play to make up 10-a-side. There was not much space to exploit anymore and the Reds were able slow down the tempo and play their passing game. We played about 20mins altogether on the over-crowded pitch with the score evenly matched at 2-2 before a group of players from the neighbourhood turned up and asked politely if they could join us.

PMC 8-on-8 using half the Primary School pitch

Taking on players from the neighbourhood

As an attempt to connect with the community and bearing in mind that the field is of free-to-play nature, we decided to have the fun together. PMC was split into 2 teams of 8 while the other group was also asked to form 2 teams. With the 1-goal-out notion, PMC took on their challenge. This group of players were technically good with great vision for long balls. Many a time, both PMC teams were forced to sit back deeply and limited our play to only swift counter-attacks and long balls. Nevertheless, it was much of an even contest between the 2 groups. We eventually ended our Soccer Fellowship with 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses. It was indeed a different experience for all and surely, we will be more prepared to take on GIBC next Saturday with this good run-out.

Blessed week ahead!

Soccer Fellowship moved to Pasir Ris Primary (21st April)

Changkat Changi's pitch is waterlogged and unplayable today. We will have Soccer Fellowship at the synthetic pitch of Pasir Ris Primary School. We will still start at 3pm. See you there!

Map & address of Pasir Ris Primary School.

Soccer Fellowship (21st April)

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 21st April at Changkat Changi Secondary School*. The session will be from 3 - 5 pm. We're back there as no other fields are available in April. Even though the pitch is small, it is ideal for 9-a-side matches. Do come down if you can!

Please bring more than 1 coloured jersey so that we can distribute everyone into teams as necessary. Please pray for good weather! If you suspect the session is cancelled, please check the blog/email for more information before you head for the field. Cancellation of session will be broadcast on the blog and by email immediately when we are informed by Sports Council.

*The address of Changkat Changi Secondary School is 23 Simei Street 3. It is located within walking distance from Simei MRT Station. The entrance to the field is through a little lane between East Point Green Condominium and Changkat Changi Primary School. You can access the lane from Simei Street 3. Please refer to the map below.

Friendly Match vs CMC Report (15th April 2012)

It was a bright and sunny Sunday afternoon, only perhaps a tad too scorching. You could literally feel the heat rising up from the ground and beating down on your backs. However, that did not deter players from both teams to turn up in almost full strength. We hoped that the scorching sun would not contribute to any flaring tempers.

After a short warm-up, the teams gathered together for a word of prayer to commit the match to the Lord for His protection. The starting line-up for PMC kicked off the match in the familiar 4-4-2 formation:

Isaiah - Yijun

Jingzhong - Kevin - Kee Min - Rusdi

Damien - Dominic - Weijie - Jacob

Maurice

The first 20 minutes belonged to CMC as wave upon wave of attacks beat onto the shores of the PMC defence. However, the PMC defence held on resolutely with timely clearances and good saves from the goalie. This brought a sense of stability to the team as PMC pushed forward in the second half of the first half. After soaking most part of the pressure, it was good to give some. And from a well taken PMC corner, the ball bounced to Isaiah, who needed no invitation to smash the ball into goal with his outstretched right leg. PMC 1: CMC 0.

Within the next 10 minutes, PMC's second goal would come from a well floated-in free-kick from Rusdi, which found the head of Yijun (or the head found the ball, whichever) who guided it into goal. 2 : 0. CMC, however, was not going to take this lying down; from the team who appeared most likely to score first, they were now trailing by two goals. They got their just returns when a perfectly taken corner floated over Jacob at the near post, was too high for the onrushing Maurice to punch out and nestled into goal just before Damien at the far post could get to it. It was game on!

The second half saw quite a number of changes as both teams sought to give as many of their players a run-out as possible. It was evident that both teams 'suffered' from the changes as play became less fluid. However, it was PMC who had the better chances for the second half, missing at least 2 sitters. Would we rue the missed chances?

 Jingzhong watches after coming off. Nigel waiting to come on.

 Rusydi & Yi Jun chilling after a good performance.

With one last surge, CMC went all out in attack for the last ten minutes, setting up a nail-biting finish. Maurice was called upon a couple of times to palm the ball away to safety. PMC conceded around 2-3 corners in the last 5 minutes. In the final cornerkick of the game, CMC's corner was met with a strong header that was surely bound for goal except that the goalie's head was in the way and the ball deflected to safety. 

Shortly after, the referee blew the whistle for full-time. PMC had emerged 2:1 victors in a game which was played in good spirit and sportsmanship. Three cheers for CMC!

Soccer Fellowship Report (7th April 2012)

It was raining in the morning and my children prayed for heavy rain and thunder storm in the afternoon so that I will not go for my soccer fellowship. And I prayed for good weather and told them God will determine if I should play soccer that day or not. And God is good.....He gave us a cool and windy afternoon and 16 of us appeared at the field for a wonderful soccer fellowship.

I shared the devotion on "A New View Of Change" written by Julie Ackerman Link on Our Daily Bread, 1st April 2012. She said: "People hate change, or so I hear. But the change we generally resist is the kind that we think will make our situation worse rather than better. We eagerly change jobs when it means higher pay and more influence. We happily move to a bigger house in a better neighborhood. So it’s not change in general that we hate; it’s change that involves loss—sometimes physical; other times emotional or psychological. Change is both inevitable and necessary. If everything stays the same, no one is growing."

"一直以来，人们都讨厌改变。不过，通常我们所抗拒的改变，是我们认为情况会变得更糟，而不是变得更好。倘若能得到更优渥的薪资、更高的职位，我们则期盼能有这样的改变。我们也很高兴能搬进更大的房子，身处于更好的社区。因此，概括而言，我们所厌恶的并不是改变，而是因改变所带来的损失，有时是实质上的损失；有时是情绪上或心理上的损失。改变是不可避免的，更是不可或缺的。倘若一切万物维持不变，就没有成长。"

Our soccer fellowship consists of different age groups. Some may waiting to finish NS and look for a job or further study. Some maybe looking for a new job as they are tired or unhappy with their current job. Some maybe waiting to get married or a new born child is arriving soon. All these situations create a change in our life patterns and also our perspective of life. As a Christian, we know we are led by someone who loves us and we have no fear as He will guide us and show us the way. But we need to pray for His guidance and direction and change will happen according to His time not ours.

Faith in Christ will keep us steady in the stormy sea of change. - Our Daily Bread 人生之海风云变幻，有主引领一无所惧。- 灵命日粮

As Kevin said it was unplanned but the Veterans took the field against the 'used to be called Galacticos' with lots of attacking and defending (guess which team did more of what!). We have a great time and I believe everyone enjoyed the soccer fellowship especially with the cool weather and we didn't even break for a drink.

And guess what, the weather actually change to darker clouds as we are leaving the field.......

Soccer Fellowship (7th April)

Soccer Fellowship is ON this Saturday, 7th April at Changkat Changi Secondary School*. The session will be from 3 - 5 pm. We're back there as no other fields are available in April. Even though the pitch is small, it is ideal for 9-a-side matches. Do come down if you can!

Please bring more than 1 coloured jersey so that we can distribute everyone into teams as necessary. Please pray for good weather! If you suspect the session is cancelled, please check the blog/email for more information before you head for the field. Cancellation of session will be broadcast on the blog and by email immediately when we are informed by Sports Council.

*The address of Changkat Changi Secondary School is 23 Simei Street 3. It is located within walking distance from Simei MRT Station. The entrance to the field is through a little lane between East Point Green Condominium and Changkat Changi Primary School. You can access the lane from Simei Street 3. Please refer to the map below.

Soccer Fellowship Report (31st March)

It was a cloudy day with 18 players turning up for Soccer Fellowship. We welcomed back Felix and Xavier after a long absence, as well as Yi Jun's friends Theodore and Kevin. Andrew also joined us as he was back in Singapore during his Easter break. Ronnie commenced devotion session by sharing about Jesus death and resurrection as we were close to the holy week of Easter.

Players gathering in the middle of the field for devotion

Ronnie sharing the Easter message

The first half was played on a full-field with the White team dominating play against the Coloured team and playing the better soccer with good teamwork and possession to score a number of quick goals to end the first half at 5 to 3 in their favour. Although the Coloured team tried their best with some stout defending and quick breakaways down the wings to score their goals it was just not good enough as the White team showed greater determination and organization to starve off any fightback from the Coloured team.

The second half was played on a half-field as most of the players were a little tired. The White team again showed they were the better side that day by displaying slick passing and good possession of the ball to score with ease. The Coloured team however did not give up and put up a gallant fight and at one stage was trailing by only just 2 goals before the White team powered away with some quick goals late in the game to end the match strongly with the final score at 13 to 7. It was a really good run-out that day with the players thoroughly enjoying playing soccer together.

Reported by: Ronnie Liew